Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson takes his seat before testifying before a House Committee on Appropriation subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 20, 2018.(Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)

An alliance of civil rights groups plans to file a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Secretary Ben Carson for suspending an Obama-era rule that aimed to promote fair housing, according to multiple media reports.

A draft obtained by Axios said the housing rights groups argue that by suspending the rule, HUD is "effectively removing civil rights oversight of as much as $5.5 billion per year until 2024 or later for almost 1,000 jurisdictions." The draft also said, "Under HUD’s pre-2015 process, jurisdictions throughout the country routinely ignored problems of segregation and discrimination while continuing to collect HUD funds."

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the "sale, rental and financing of dwellings," but housing advocates say enforcement of the law has been weak in the 50 years since its passage. The rule put in place under former HUD secretary Julian Castro aimed to address those failures.

"HUD has continued to grant federal dollars to municipalities even when they know the municipalities are engaging in discrimination," Lisa Rice, president and chief executive of the National Fair Housing Alliance, told the Post. "They are rewarding cities for bad behavior."

"These government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality create consequences that often make matters worse," Carson said. "There are reasonable ways to use housing policy to enhance the opportunities available to lower-income citizens, but based on the history of failed socialist experiments in this country, entrusting the government to get it right can prove downright dangerous."

Vice President Pence administers the oath of office to Carson as his wife, Candy, and granddaughter Tesora Carson, 5, hold the Bible on March 2, 2017, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Carson was confirmed by the Senate as Housing and Urban Development secretary earlier that day.
Andrew Harnik, AP

Carson buttons and fliers implore him to run for president at a grass-roots training rally held by the New Hampshire Republican Party at Concord High School on March 14, 2015 in Concord, N.H.
Darren McCollester, Getty Images